Berkshire County residents awoke to arctic conditions Monday, with feet of snow on the ground, temperatures in the single digits, and fully deployed arsenals of blowers, plows, and other means of tackling the frost. This WAMC reporter trudged to work in downtown Pittsfield – the largest, most densely populated community in the Berkshires – through mounds of snow, with narrow channels for pedestrians cut through feet of accumulation.
“Well, we have our main roads looking in much better shape than our neighborhood streets. That is no surprise," said Commissioner of Public Utilities Ricardo Morales.
He estimates Pittsfield got anywhere from 15 to 20 inches across the city’s almost 43 square miles, with the east side and higher elevations seeing heavier snowfall.
“We were having a tough time keeping up with the amount of snow falling per hour, 1 to 2 inches, approaching sometimes more than 2 inches per hour," said the commissioner. "We were having, neighborhood streets, having to decide with the contractors whether to plow them, each street, to be passable, or to plow curb-to-curb as the storm progressed.”
In the back half of Monday, the city is light on the privately contracted crews that work alongside municipal employees. Morales says they’re cycling off for some rest before the next major push to clear out the roads for Pittsfield’s 43,000 residents.
“We're expecting them to be back sometime after sunset today," he told WAMC. "We still have about six contractors with our crews still working with us and having some side streets and neighborhood streets being completed. We're still expecting another half inch, maybe, maybe an inch. We don't know. It's up in the air at this point.”
About 35 miles south of Pittsfield is Mount Washington, Berkshire County’s smallest community. Fewer than 200 residents live in the town nestled into a mountain range in the southwestern corner of Massachusetts, wedged between New York and Connecticut.
“It looks pretty intense. Yeah, it's a lot of snow. I mean, it's a small community with a lot of snow, and some people enjoy it, and some people don't. I don't know what to tell you," laughed Town Office Manager Elisabeth Lem, who told WAMC Mount Washington safely weathered the estimated 18 to 20 inches of snow it received over the weekend.
“We have an emergency alert system which we have not needed to use because the electricity was fine, the broadband was up and running, and there has been no emergency," said Lem. "So, there was no need for using it. But we do have that in place, yes.”
She says it takes a lot more than snowfall alone to raise eyebrows in a Berkshire community sitting at an elevation over 1,600 feet well acquainted with accumulation.
“I think we're just used to it," said Lem. "We’ve, in the past we've always had a lot of snow, more than our neighboring towns, because we're up in the mountains. So, we're sort of used to it. It's not a big deal.”
Northeast of Pittsfield, Windsor – a hill town with around 1,000 residents on the eastern fringe of Berkshire County – rests even higher than Mount Washington, boasting an elevation of over 2,000 feet.
“Well, as far as snow goes, I haven't gotten an official total," said Fire Chief Jamie Hyatt. "I've seen anything from 18 to 20 inches, but it was hard with all the wind drifts to get an accurate reading.”
Hyatt says perpetrations for the snow began Friday – topping off town trucks with fuel and sand and hitting the ground running once the flakes began to fall.
“As far as an impact, there were some issues with roads getting drifted over overnight, but the highway department's been out keeping the roads open, and, yeah, I mean, it’s in pretty good shape," he said. "This one was what we expected, and everything was put in place, and everything was handled accordingly.”
He told WAMC this weekend qualified as a traditional New England storm – not one of the blockbusters Windsor has soldiered through in years past.
“I wish I had a story for you, but we really, this particular storm was just a- It was as smooth going as they could go, and we're grateful for that," said the fire chief. "So now we're just pushing the road back and cleaning up the parking lots for the town, and going to check everything out and get ready for the next one.”
